Another Useful CTA Tool - CTA Bus Tracker!

Tired of waiting outside in rain and snow for the bus? The CTA has really rolled out their Bus Tracker system (ontop of the already successful CTA Trip Planner)!

As you can see from the screen shot to the left, you can actually see where buses are on their routes.

The intuitiveness of this tool is mediocre. I would expect to see buses immediately once the tool starts, but you actually have to select routes from the toolbox on the upper right hand corner of the screen. Once you get the hang of it though, it is great. You can select up to 5 routes to view and then get out to the stop just in the nick of time!

Tricking the CTA Trip Planner - Breaking Down Your Trip

Some of my tenants have reported lately that the RTA Trip Planner doesn't seem to return the best route and then they can't get an accurate time for the route that they think they should take. Sometimes, this happens due to schedule issues (some routes may not be running on a particular day or a particular time). If you have verified (by looking at the route schedule) that the route is indeed running at that time, do the following:

1) Check to make sure your Arrival or Departure time in the application is properly selected.
2) If it is properly selected, then split your trip into two parts and enter the parts individually.

This will, in turn, get your trip close to correct. If you do each leg separately, you should be able to get a more accurate time for your trip duration. A pain in the rear, but it works.

Cool Site Added to the CTA Website

I was using the CTA Trip Planner earlier today and noticed that they have recently added a link for Drive Less. Live More. - A website that allows you to compare savings if you take public transit vs. driving your car. Pretty cool site, check it out.

CTA Trip Planner - Google or RTA Version?

For those of you who use the CTA Trip Planner, you may have noticed a few months ago that the CTA decided to make a switch to Google Trip Planner. Now, I am a fan of most things Google. Heck, even this blog location is hosted by Google.

I try to write in an unbiased format, but I was relieved to find that the CTA had not done away with its version of the utility. If you look just below the Google application, you will see the link in all of its glory: RTA Trip Planner

I have run many a comparison between the two utilities and actually think they should be featured opposite of the way they are. Here is my 2 cents on why the RTA version is better than Google's: